August 22, 2017

During World War II, when atomic bombs were dropped on two Japanese cities, an extraordinary thing occurred. At Hiroshima, a small community of Jesuits was in their house eight blocks from the center of the bomb blast. They had just finished Mass. While hundreds of thousands of people around them in a radius of a mile had died, they were unscathed. The surrounding buildings were destroyed, yet their house was untouched. Expert Dr. Stephen Rinehart said that the temperature around the blast was in excess of 20,000 to 30,000 degrees F and that the blast wave hit at sonic velocity with pressures (at one kilometer) greater than 600 psi. Persons cannot survive 350* F and 30 psi. Most people died at ten times the distance of the priests from the blast’s epicenter, and the few survivors at that distance were all dead from radiation soon afterwards. But, these eight priests survived and were later examined by 200 scientists and doctors.

Thirty-three years later, survivor, Jesuit Fr. Hubert Schiffer, explained that in their house there was just one thing that was different from their neighbors: “We believe that we survived because we were living the Message of Fatima. . . . In that house, the Holy Rosary was recited every day.”

Similarly, at the community center called Marytown, or the City of the Immaculata, located in Nagasaki, another group of priests was unscathed by the atomic blast from the atomic bomb that was dropped there. St. Maximilian Kolbe had founded this community a decade before the war.

Nagasaki had one of the highest concentrations of Catholics in Japan. However, it wasn’t as simple as those who were Catholics or those who prayed the rosary were left standing with their houses and everything else was flattened. God allowed the laws of physics to run their course. But he permitted these two exceptions to witness to the world the power of his mother and the efficacy of devotion to her.

Recently, a married woman shared with me how her life drastically changed after she did the consecration of her life to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and praying the daily rosary come highly recommended. If Mary is the queen of heaven and of earth, as we celebrate today, then she has more power than anyone else except the King. And with her tremendous power and influence, she does not direct the focus to herself but to her Son. She is merely the Handmaid of the Lord.

When St. John Paul II became pope, he chose for his coat of arms the words “Totus Tuus”. It is a Latin phrase meaning “totally thine” and expressed his personal consecration to Mary based on the spiritual approach of St. Louis de Montfort. He basically gave Our Lady a free hand in his life to use him as she pleased. And what a tremendous amount of good she was able to accomplish through him! It’s astounding to realize that just one person was able to contribute so much to the Church, to the world, and to mankind.

Mary definitely has queenly power, and she is eagerly awaiting souls who will consecrate themselves to herself and her Son. She sees so much work that needs to be done, so many souls to be saved. She needs us to cooperate in this great work, and we need her to inform and direct our actions in the most efficient and effective manner. God can accomplish great things through us . . . let us allow Mary to be our Queen.

Article printed from
The Abbey of the Genesee:
http://www.geneseeabbey.org